The Night Before (Life Goes On)
by DisneyMinnie
Summary: Song fic on Carrie Underwood's "The Night Before (Life Goes On)". Troyella. Post HSM3. Part of it is inspired by "Pulling Together" and "Life Goes On," both by Awahili.


_Happy new school year! I've started this story 2 years ago but lost interest in it since I'm not the world's largest Troyella fan (I'm more Ryelsi). Since school starts back up again for me tomorrow, I've decided to sit myself down and finish it. I wasn't entirely sure what my initial vision was for this story and I felt like I rushed the ending. _

_Anyway, here's a new story by me, partially inspired by "Pulling Together" and "Life Goes On"._

_2 truths and a lie:  
__\- I own HSM.  
\- I own the computer I'm using to write this.  
\- I LOVE the song!_

* * *

Gabriella was sitting on the roof of her house. She was going to leave for California the next morning. She sighed heavily as she looked down her street, admiring how the moon reflected light on the empty street and the street lamps providing light for those who can't see because it was so dark. It was getting towards the end of summer and she didn't want to end. She didn't want to leave her boyfriend of two years. She didn't want to leave all of her friends that she gained the last two years. Everyone will be scattered around the country. Two will be in New York, two will be in Texas, two will stay in Albuquerque, and one's in Connecticut. The remaining two will be in California with her.

It was a cool night so she wrapped her hands around her arms to keep herself warm, or at least tried to keep herself warm. She was surprised to feel something warm drape over her shoulders. She looked down to see a familiar blue flannel. She didn't need to look behind her because she knew exactly who the flannel belonged to, but she turns her head anyways to see a smiling Troy. She returned the smile, silently inviting him to join her. He slides behind her and wraps his arms around his girlfriend. She leans into him, listening to his soft heartbeats. He places a soft kiss on her temple, taking on the last night of summer he has with his girlfriend. It was already mid-August and she was moving in early. He was leaving for California in September, around the 19th (he couldn't remember the exact date). Until then, he was helping his dad with the new team and choosing a new captain.

She sighed contently against his chest as she reflected the last year had been for her. She had been accepted into the Honors Program at Stanford University, so the last few months of senior year had been hectic. She and Troy had "broken up" temporarily when she had to leave during rehearsals for the musical. She promised everyone that she'd be back for prom and graduation but a phone call from Troy later, she told him that she wasn't coming back at all. This made him drive all the way to California to tell her "you might be ready to say goodbye to East High, but East High isn't ready to say goodbye to you" and to go to "prom" with her at Stanford because his prom was "wherever you are." This persuaded her to go back with him to Albuquerque to finish senior year. They had made it back in time for the second act of the musical and dazzled everyone with their performance of "Just Wanna Be With You." He then surprised her that he had decided to attend UC Berkeley, instead of University of Albuquerque, like he had planned to before. She decided to stay for gradation, much to his relief. Since then, she had gone back to Stanford exactly twice. The first time was to tell her professors where she had been the last couple months, the second time was to finish her classes she had during the Honors Program. Other than that, she spent her summer in Albuquerque with all the Wildcats. Her thoughts were interrupted when Troy spoke to her. "What are you thinking about, beautiful?"

"Just…" she began, "this past year in general. So much had happened." He nodded.

"I know what you mean." He joined her with looking up into the night sky.

The two stayed like that for a few long minutes. His arms wrapped around her and she leaned into him. She finally broke the silence. "This feels wonderful, Troy. I don't want tonight to end." She turned her head so that she was looking at him. "Why does it have to end?"

Troy took a few long seconds to think of an answer because honestly, he didn't want it to end either. It reminded him of a conversation they had just before she left for Stanford the first time. He could remember it well.

_Flashback_

_They had just finished a pizza and chocolate covered strawberries that he had brought one night. The real reason he wanted to see her that night was to ask her about the Honors Program. He had heard it from Sharpay and who knows where she got it from. The point was that almost everyone had knew about it, but he wasn't one of them. He wondered why._

_"Because I knew what you would say," was her answer. They both sat up from their lying down positions. She was on her stomach and he was on his side, propped up on his elbow._

_"Of course you should do the Honors Program. Is that what you were trying to tell me, in the backyard the other day?"_

_"One of the things"_

_"What else?" He wanted to know._

_"I've been thinking about trying to talk my mom into staying in Albuquerque another year. I'll just take some classes here and go to Stanford when I'm ready."_

_"You just can't put off something as amazing as Stanford." A beat. "You gotta go. It's the right thing to do"_

_"I always do the right thing," she fired back. "Maybe I want to be a little crazy this time." Her voice softened. "Everything about my life has always been full speed ahead. I told you. I wish it would just all slow down to a stop."_

_He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving her contact. "We're going to graduate. That's going to happen. Nothing is gonna slow down."_

_"I guess my heart just doesn't know it's in high school." When he tried to come up with an answer to that, she continued. "You don't have to say anything else. I'm a lot better at goodbyes than you. I had a ton of practice." She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. She got up and headed towards her balcony, he followed her._

_"Why are you saying goodbye?" He took her hands into his. "We still have prom. We still have to graduate." She scoffed._

_"I meant 'good night'." She leaned forward to plant another kiss on his cheek but he beat her to the punch and planted one on __**her**__ cheek. She gave a soft laugh. She reached her hand up towards the side of his head and started playing with his hair. "You okay?"_

_"Yeah." He tried his hardest to smile. "Good night."_

_"Good night." Then he left with a very bad feeling in his chest._

_End Flashback_

He didn't like looking back at that night for three reasons. One, his girlfriend kept saying "goodbye" and never gave a full explanation as to why. Two, he didn't see her again until the day of prom, where he spent the entire day before driving from Albuquerque to Stanford. He left right after school that Friday to drive the 1,065 miles it took to get to Stanford University. He even drove into the night to make it to California as soon as he could. When he got tired, he drove into a parking lot and fell asleep in his beat up truck. When he woke, he got back on the freeway to drive the remaining miles to Stanford. Third, after he left the Montez residence, as luck would have him, his truck wouldn't start up so he had to leave it where he had parked it and walked home. During that walk, he reflected on what he had just conversed with his girlfriend.

When Gabriella noticed that he wasn't answering, but rather in deep thought, her eyes left his face and fell on the street before her. Before long, her eyes started to weld up with tears. She sniffed a bit to try to make sure Troy didn't notice. Unfortunately, one of her tears escaped her eyes, fell down her cheek, and landed on his arm. She started to dry her eyes with her hands when he stood up and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here." She smiled and hesitantly took his hand. He helped her up, his blue flannel still around her shoulders. He lead her down the roof and onto her balcony, only to climb down into the backyard and find his truck parked in the street behind her house. She hadn't taken a ride in it for a while but he assured her that he had been working on it for the last few months and it's been working just fine. He opened up the passenger's door for her, she got in, and he closed the door once she was sitting inside. He then jogged to the other side and got in the driver's seat. He turned on the ignition and started driving down her street and into town.

The majority of the ride was spent in silence between the two. She would be looking out her window, watching everything go by. They passed the familiar houses of their friends, which they spent several weekends watching movies, having sleepovers, and studying.

As she took a trip down memory lane, she didn't notice that the car had stopped right in front of East High. It wasn't until she heard a frustrated fist slam on the wheel that she turned her head to see Troy with his face on the wheel, looking dejected. She could hear him softly mutter, "life isn't fair." He looks up at her when she places a hand on his arm. "This growing up stuff, man, I don't know. I just don't want to let you go."

"Troy, we have to grow up. We can't be kids forever. Life isn't some Disney movie where everyone lives happily ever after at the end. Things happen and all we can do is to let them happen and cope. Don't worry about us. We'll be in California together. Nothing is going to happen to us. I won't let it. I care for you too much."

Troy looked at his girlfriend in admiration. How had he'd been so lucky to end up with her? Sometimes, looking back, he would have thought he had fallen for her right there on New Year's Eve karaoke. Other times, the feelings were gradual over time so what started as a simple crush turned into what he felt was true love. Whatever it was, he was lucky to have the most beautiful girl in the world as his girlfriend. After their break during the summer and when she went to Stanford, he knew that he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. She meant that much to him.

"When did you become so smart?" She hit his arm playfully.

"Oh please. I've always been smart. You've just been too busy with the musical to notice it." The two shared a good-natured laugh. She leaned her head on her head rest and looked into the baby blue eyes of the guy who holds her heart. He was looking right back at her. An unspoken silence passed between them. It seemed to say, _'it'll be alright, we'll be alright'_ and for them, that was enough.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And the two kissed, ready for the life ahead of them.

* * *

_And there you go. You're welcome. I'm still a little stuck on the last chapter of my DESCENDANTS fic so it won't be done for a while. Also with student teaching and night classes, I'll find little-to-no time to write this year. I'll try to write on the weekends and on breaks but I can't make any guarentees. _


End file.
